Report Says Coalition may Take over Judge Selection but Slow Down other Bills

On Friday night, an unconfirmed report said that the coalition was planning on quickly pushing forward with one of their most significant aspects of the judicial overhaul plan, which is taking control of the Judicial Selection Committee.

But, the report said that they intended to slow down on the other bills that are part of the plan for sapping the huge protests that have been taking place.

The strategy

According to the report, this would mean that the cabinet would take days for approving legislation that would allow it to select the judges, which also includes the Supreme Court.

This is one of the most crucial aspects of the overhaul of the judicial review system that has been put forward by Justice Minister Yariv Levin.

In addition, it would also give politicians control over the chief justice’s appointment. If the legislation is passed, the government would be able to select three justices in the coming year.

This is due to the fact that three judges would be retiring soon, including Esther Hayut, the Chief Justice. The coalition would be able to choose its own candidate as chief justice once the current seniority system is cancelled.

Since the chief justice chooses the different panels for overseeing cases that in the court, it would give the coalition leverage over the agenda as well as rulings of the court.

The government’s intention

It was mentioned in the report that the government does not have any intention of abandoning the other aspects of its plans.

The only thing it does intend to do is slow down the overhaul process for calming down the public protests that have spurred up due to the radical changes the proposals are likely to bring.

Levin has claimed that he intends to pass all the bills on their legislative agenda into law before the Knesset goes for a break two weeks from now due to Passover.

The impact

Nonetheless, it is highly doubtful that the government would be able to stop the mass demonstrations because its attempt to take over the Judicial Selection Committee is the one that has generated the most criticism.

It has been regarded as a way of taking away the independence of the court, thereby harming the democracy of the country.

The legislative plans will also curb the capacity of the High Court for overturning legislation, which means that basic civil and human rights will be unprotected.

According to opponents, the system of checks and balances will radically weaken and this will affect democracy.

There has been a lot of opposition to the overhaul plans and mass protests have been carried out across the country every week.

There have also been dire warnings from economists, academics, legal professionals and security officials about the consequences of the overhaul.

Protests are once more expected to take place on Saturday evening and the number of people attending these protests have continued to grow each week.

President Isaac Herzog put forward a compromise plan, but the government has rejected it.